The present invention relates to a display apparatus for displaying an image in Accordance with an input display data, the display apparatus being capable of controlling the brightness of each display element by the amount of applied current or the period of activation and, more particularly, to those employing light emitting diodes (LEDs), organic EL (Electro Luminescence) devices and other light emitting devices as display elements.
As flat panel type display apparatuses replace cathode ray tubes, a variety of display systems have been proposed. In particular, organic EL display apparatuses, electric field display (EFD) apparatuses, and plasma display devices have attracted attention as self-luminous display apparatuses. In “An Innovative Pixel-Driving Scheme for 64-Level Gray Scale Full-Color Active Matrix OLED Displays” (SID02 Proc.), a method is disclosed which controls the active time of each pixel by a signal voltage. In this method, after a signal voltage is written, a sweep voltage is applied through a switch within the pixel. In addition, a method for compensating for characteristics variations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,508 (JP-A-11-219146). In this method, before a signal voltage is written to each pixel, a precharge voltage is applied through a switch formed within the pixel.
However, the method described in “An Innovative Pixel-Driving Scheme for 64-Level Gray Scale Full-Color Active Matrix OLED Displays” decreases the pixel's aperture ratio since a select switch and sweep voltage supply line are formed within each pixel. The method described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,229,508 also decrease the pixel's aperture ratio since a select switch and precharge voltage supply line are formed within each pixel.